Lupin and Potter
by Insert Clever Potter Name Here
Summary: A series of one shots following James Sirius Potter and Dee Lupin as they navigate life, drama and love. AU, OC, non canon survival, all canon ships(except the main Dee/James), next gen, rating may change. Tagged characters reflect current latest chapter cast. Not in chronological order.
1. Her Start

**_I have a small little one shot series starting based on the idea of James Sirius dating and later marrying Remus and Tonks' daughter, and here is the first one._**

* * *

**May 26, 2004**

To say Remus was protective of his family was an understatement. Even though his wife was an Auror, Remus still felt like he had to protect her and Teddy.

Even though it had been nearly six years since the war ended, Remus still kept his wand ready, waiting for someone to attack.

Tonks also carried her wand on her at all times, but it was for a different reason- people were retaliating against Aurors constantly. Dark witches and wizards continued to claim they hadn't done anything wrong and would resist arrest and their families or friends would try to get revenge on the Aurors if they spotted them alone.

The Wizarding World couldn't be rebuilt overnight, Remus knew, but he had hoped things would have been a little safer this far on.

He was relieved when Tonks had gotten pregnant again, it had meant she would no longer be participating in arrests.

It felt like her pregnancy had gone by fast, much faster than when she had Teddy. It was a weekend, so they had gone to Diagon Alley to get a few things that they hadn't gotten yet.

They had just left Ollivander's after stopping by to visit him. Remus helped Ollivander with his shop in the summers, something Ollivander welcomed. The arrangement had started right after the war ended, when Remus and Tonks were visiting Diagon Alley and had seen Ollivander working on restoring his shop. Remus offered to help and Ollivander hired him immediately. Once fall came, Minerva asked Remus to return to teach, and Ollivander had said he would welcome Remus' help in the summers, when his shop was busiest.

"You!" A man yelled, and Remus and Tonks turned at the sound of the yell. "You evil bitch!"

A dirty man wearing torn robes was coming towards them. Diagon Alley was quiet today and the few passersby hurried along.

"Enjoying your freedom?" The man demanded, shoving his finger in Tonks' face.

"Excuse me-" Remus began, stepping between the man and Tonks.

"Oh, real tough Auror, ain't ya? Having your guard dog do your dirty work?" The man spat.

"Do I know you?" Tonks asked, her hand going to her pocket, where her wand was stashed.

"Emmerton! Bet that name sounds familiar, eh?"

"I don't-"

"You arrested my wife, you bitch!"

"Mr Emmerton, _please,_ is there something we can help you with?" Remus asked, keeping his arm in front of Tonks, his other arm against Emmerton's chest.

"Yeah, there is." Emmerton said.

"I'm sorry about your wife, but-"

"You can let me ruin your life." Emmerton said, whipping out his wand. The curse went right under Remus' arm before he could react, throwing Tonks backwards. She landed on her side a few feet away and someone yelled for help, someone else rushing to Tonks' side.

Emmerton took off and in a moment of blind rage, Remus took off after him, sending a Stunning Spell after him. The spell hit a wall, sending small chunks of stone flying. Emmerton raced through the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron, Remus following.

"Someone stop him!" Remus yelled. Tom raced around the bar, heading for Emmerton, who shoved his way out of the pub and into the street. Remus heard a loud distinctive crack as soon he got outside. He cursed loudly.

"What happened?" Tom asked, facing Remus.

"He cursed Dor- oh, God, Dora!" Remus turned, rushing back through the pub and back into Diagon Alley. As he reached Ollivanders again, Aurors were already there with a couple of Healers. Tonks hadn't moved from where she landed, a Healer bending over her.

"Dora! Is she okay?" Remus asked as he shoved passed the Aurors. Someone grabbed Remus by his arms.

"Remus, don't- give them space." Harry said. "She's with Healers, let them work. Who was it?"

"He- his name was Emmerton, never gave us a first name. He said Dora had arrested his wife." Remus said. "He wanted- he wanted to ruin her life like she did to him."

Harry nodded. "Bronson, get someone to starting looking for Emmerton, check the case file for his wife, there may be information about him." Harry said to another Auror. The Auror nodded, heading back into Ollivanders.

The Healers had Tonks on a conjured stretcher now and were carrying her to Ollivander's, one of them approaching Harry and Remus.

"Are you the husband?" The Healer asked Remus, and he nodded. "Alright. Well, we're taking her in, but we need to know everything about the curse that you know. Did he say an incantation?"

"No, but it was blue." Remus said. "Will Dora be okay?"

Something about the look on the Healer's face scared Remus. "We'll do our best."

* * *

Doing their best unfortunately hadn't been enough.

Remus had waited for six hours before a Healer approached him again. Harry had arrived two hours after Remus, saying he had more questions about the confrontation.

Remus answered everything, but Harry hadn't left. As Head Auror and more importantly, a friend, he wanted to know if Tonks was alright.

So, they sat and waited. And waited.

A Healer exited a side corridor, glancing at a chart before heading towards Remus.

Remus and Harry were on their feet immediately as the Healer approached. Remus' heart was pounding, the somber look on the Healer's face worrying him.

"Mr Lupin, can we sit?" She asked.

"Is Dora alright?" Remus asked.

She looked uncomfortable. "Mr Lupin, it was- it was a bad curse." She began. "We tried every counter curse we could-"

Remus collapsed in a chair and it felt like he couldn't breathe. "She's- is she dead?" He asked quietly. Harry had a hand on Remus' shoulder, saying something about how sorry he was.

The Healer sat, her hand on Remus' arm. "I'm sorry, we really did try everything. Her organs began shutting down as we arrived, potions and spells didn't make a difference." She said. "There's another thing-"

"Can I see her?" Remus asked. "I need to see her."

"I can ask if you'd like, but first I'd like to talk to you about your daughter."

"I- my daughter?" Remus asked, staring at the Healer.

"Yes, we were able to deliver the baby with a c-section. You have a daughter." The Healer said. "She's quite small, as you can imagine, we will have to keep her for a while."

"You saved the baby?" Remus asked, exhaling sharply. "Is she healthy? Can I see her? How long will she be here?"

"She is healthy, but early. Very early. We'll need to keep her here a while until she gains some weight and we can be sure there aren't complications." She said. "You'll be allowed to see her, but she's in incubation, so you may not be able to hold her yet."

"I- let me see Dora. Let me say goodbye." Remus finally said. "Please."

The Healer was quiet for a moment. "Alright, come on, I'll take you to her." She said, standing. Remus stood and then he turned to Harry.

"Andromeda should know, about the baby too."

"I can go tell her now. Anyone else?"

"The Ministry." He said. "Our friends..."

"I can take care of all of it." Harry said. "What else can I do for you?"

Remus couldn't think. Shock was probably settling in, he realised. "I- I don't know."

"I'll be back in a while, don't go home without me. You can't Apparate like this."

Remus nodded and Harry left. Remus followed the Healer. He didn't want to see her suddenly. For now, he could pretend she was alive.

Seeing her, though... it would become so real.

The Healer took him to a darkened room. "I'll give you a moment alone." She said, and she closed the door behind Remus.

Tonks simply looked like she was asleep. She was wearing a pair of St Mungo's pajamas and they had cleaned her up and had her resting on the bed, the blankets pulled up to her chest, as if she was simply asleep.

Remus couldn't breath suddenly and he could feel a lump in his throat. "Dora..." He said softly, approaching the bed, reaching for her hand. Her skin was cool to the touch.

He sat on the edge of the bed carefully, cupping the side of her face. He didn't want to forget any detail, and he was afraid that if he blinked, she'd be gone and he would forget.

They had many pictures together now, but pictures were so different than the real thing. In time, he may forget the feel of her skin or the sound of her laugh or even the way her favourite perfume smelled on her.

He didn't want to forget that.

"They saved the baby." Remus said after a moment. "We have a little girl, just like you wanted." He could feel the tears coming, his voice breaking a little.

He wished they had found out the gender of the baby earlier, just so she would have known.

Everything seemed silly now. They had waited for everything, because there was no rush this time. With Teddy, they had rushed to set up his crib so they could place protection charms on it. They had rushed to choose a name in case Bellatrix found Tonks before the baby was born, so that the baby would always have a name to them.

They hadn't done any of that this time. The crib wasn't set up yet, there was no name chosen. They hadn't found out the gender because they had waited with Teddy too. There was no war, there was no rush. They had _time._

He leaned closer, putting his forehead against hers. "I love you so much, Dora." He whispered, closing his eyes for a moment. He kissed her forehead before straightening up. "I always will."

Remus stood, tears hitting his cheeks. He looked at her one last time, trying to remember every tiny detail of her. Finally, he left the room. He felt his heart breaking at the thought of going home without her.

The Healer who had brought him to her room was waiting outside. "I'd like to see my daughter."

She nodded. "Of course." She said. "They've moved her upstairs."

Remus followed the Healer through the hospital. His heart felt heavy, as if he had left half of himself with Tonks. At this point in their marriage, they had long become dependent on the other person for everything. They were so intertwined and he felt like he was incomplete without her.

The Healer stopped in front of a wall of windows. Half of the wall led into a room where there was a row of plastic cribs, babies in varying states of sleeping and awake.

They had stopped at a window beside this, where there were a few cribs that were completely encased in plastic, spells glowing around them.

"She's the second on the left in the front row." The Healer said.

Remus looked at the baby, surrounding by tubes. "Is she... will she be healthy?"

"I can find out if any tests have come back." The Healer said and she left. Remus watched his daughter, more tears spilling from his eyes.

The whole day felt like a nightmare. He wanted so badly to wake up with Tonks safe at home.

"Mr Lupin?"

Remus turned to see the young Healer had returned.

"The tests did come back." She said. "Your daughter just needs some time and to gain a little bit of weight, and then can go home."

Remus nodded

"I also wanted to ask, did you have a name chosen?"

Remus shook his head. "No, we... we never chose one."

"Okay, that's no problem." She said. "Would you like to hold her?"

"Can I?"

"We'll take precautions, but yes, you can."

"I'd like to."

She led Remus to a door, casting a charm over him. "To keep outside germs away." She explained, before leading him into the room. The Healer pulled a rocking chair close to the incubator, instructing Remus to sit. He did, and she carefully opened the incubator, lifting the baby out. A couple of the spells followed the baby to Remus' arms.

"I'll give you some time with her. If you need anything, there are a few Healers on this ward, or you can ask for me. My name is Amelia Anders."

"Thank you, Amelia."

She gave him a sad smile and left. Remus looked down at his daughter. She was so _tiny. _He had thought Teddy was small, but this was so different. He could feel a lump forming in his throat again, tears burning his eyes.

"She would have loved you." He whispered, placing a shaky kiss to the baby's forehead. "She would have loved you so, so much. And I'm sorry I was too slow to protect her."

The baby simply stared at Remus with wide dark eyes, blinking.

"You would have loved her too. She was the best mother." He continued. "She- she would always talk about you. How she couldn't wait to meet you, and finally choose your name..."

His breath hitched as he choked back a sob. "I don't know what to call you, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He muttered, tears spilling from his eyes.

He had no idea how long he sat there, holding his daughter and letting the tears fall. This had to be a nightmare, some horrible prank.

He would wake up any minute, right next to Tonks.

He had to wake up.

He knew denial would never help him, but he couldn't help it. He sat for so long, hoping this was nothing but a nightmare.

But the sounds of the hospital remained around him, and he remained wide awake in the rocking chair, holding his premature baby.

Finally, he stood and carefully set her back in the incubator. "I promise I'll be back, every day until I can take you home with me. I need- I need to be here with you, and I will be."

Remus left the room but he stood on the other side of the glass for a while, staring at his daughter. He felt like he couldn't possibly cry anymore, his cheeks still dampened from his earlier tears.

"How're you holding up?"

Remus turned to see Harry approach him. The rest of the corridor was silent.

"Not very well."

Harry nodded, looking towards the baby in the incubator. "Is that her?"

"Yeah. They asked me if we had chosen a name yet." Remus said. "We hadn't. We thought we had time to, we didn't rush to prepare for this one. Maybe we should have. I don't know what to do now."

Harry placed his hand on Remus' shoulder. "Everyone is here for you." He said. "Me and Ginny, we'll babysit Teddy whenever you need. We'll help with everything, Andromeda too."

"I keep hoping this is a nightmare." Remus muttered. "I don't understand how someone could do such a thing. I've gone through two wars, Harry, and still... I can't understand how someone could be such a monster."

"They've arrested him already, he'll probably go away for life." Harry said. "I know it doesn't help right now."

Remus shook his head. "No, it doesn't." He said. "I need to go. I need to plan a funeral and-"

"No, you don't." Harry said. "You need to go home and see your son, and you need to grieve and let us help you with the arrangements. But it can wait until tomorrow. You need to spend tonight with Teddy."

Remus didn't move for a moment, and then he turned to Harry, hugging the younger man. Harry hugged him tightly, letting Remus break down against him.


	2. His Start

**_I want each of them to be at least 1K or 2K words long._**

* * *

**March 27, 2004**

Harry was absolutely terrified to be a father.

Since the war ended, he hadn't had many reasons to be truly afraid. He had had moments where he had nightmares or a headache that originated in his forehead and felt genuine fear when he woke up or until the headache finally went away, but this was different.

He was about to responsible for a whole new human.

He was glad that they knew it was a boy. He felt he could prepare a little more than if they left it a surprise. The nursery was finished long before Ginny entered her third trimester, a name hadn't yet been chosen, but they had a few options.

Harry couldn't prepare for how nervous he was, though. He hadn't even been this nervous when it came time to take his Auror exams or when he got promoted to Head Auror just last year.

He couldn't understand how the idea of being father was somehow worse than facing a Death Eater or two. Everyone around him seemed content and happy with the kids they had, he hadn't seen Bill panicking like this and Remus hadn't panicked when Tonks got pregnant a couple of months after Harry and Ginny announced that they were expecting.

Harry often wondered if their kids would be friends, like how Harry's Dad and Remus were. He hoped so, even though Remus hadn't been happy when it was brought up that James' grandson and Remus' second child would be the same age.

For the past week, Ginny had been so uncomfortable that she had been constantly saying she hoped the baby would come soon so she could find some relief. She had also pointed out that as long as the baby was born on or near the due date of March 30th, she could be back to playing Quidditch in the fall.

It hadn't escaped Harry's notice that it was his father's birthday.

It also didn't escape his notice when Ginny swore underneath her breath and and clutched the counter as she was trying to wash the dishes from breakfast. Harry himself had offered, but she had nearly bit his head off for even offering, ranting about she wasn't incapable just because she was pregnant.

Truthfully, Harry couldn't wait for her pregnancy to end. He just worried about what came after.

They had been in St Mungo's for three hours now, alternating between him helping Ginny pace the hall and Ginny getting some rest.

Remus and Tonks had dropped by for a few minutes on their way to one of Tonks' appointments, and Molly and Arthur had arrived but left shortly after when Ginny exclaimed she only wanted Harry to stay until she gave birth and afterwards.

Harry was surprised Molly had been alright with that.

"What if he hates Quidditch?" Ginny asked, bringing Harry out of his own thoughts.

"Sorry?"

"What if our baby hates Quidditch?" Ginny asked, pausing in her pacing of the room.

"I- I don't know, does it matter?" Harry asked.

Ginny shrugged. "Not really, I guess it would just be weird, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess." Harry said. "I mean, he's got to be a seeker."

"Chaser would be okay, too." Ginny said. "Whatever position he likes best."

"Right." Harry said. "I don't think Minerva would let him go without at least trying out for Gryffindor's team."

"How long do you think this will take?"

"Uh, I don't know. Why don't we walk the hall again?" Harry offered and Ginny nodded. They made their way out of the room, walking from one end of the hall to the other.

"How are you doing, Ginny?" Healer Catton asked as they passed the desks. "Do you need more potions?"

"They're a bit closer, but no, I don't think I need any more."

"Good girl, keep walking." Healer Catton said, heading off to another patient's room.

They passed a row of windows that showed into a room where babies slept in rows and another room where the premature and sick babies were.

Ginny paused at the first windows. "Some of them are small."

Harry looked into the room. "Yeah, but remember how small Teddy and Vic were?"

"Sure I do, but look at the third one on the right. He's pretty big." Ginny said. "I hope ours isn't that big."

"I'm sure he'll be perfect." Harry said, smiling and rubbing her shoulders. "Any baby of yours is bound to be perfect."

"Well, I didn't do this alone, so he's _ours, _but yes, he'll be absolutely perfect, I'm sure." Ginny said. "I think we should go with the name James Sirius."

"You do?" Harry asked and Ginny nodded. "I love it."

They walked back to the room slowly. "Do you think he'll need glasses?" Harry asked.

"I hope not, you lose yours enough. Or, maybe he won't lose his glasses as much." Ginny offered, settling on the bed. "You know, we've been here for-"

"Three hours, I know." Harry said. "What are you so impatient for? You want to get back to Quidditch that badly?"

Ginny laughed, rolling her eyes. "No, I'd like to meet our son, you tosser."

As more hours passed, Harry began to feel a strange mix it anxious and excited. He wasn't sure what kind of father he would be, but he hoped he would a good one.

In the last few months, he had really started to pay attention to every other man he knew and how they were as a father. He hoped he could figure out what kind of father he wanted to be quickly, and he had been told by everyone else that if he ever needed advice, they would be there. Ginny had her parents, but Harry had no real father to turn to, so he relied on close friends when it came to parenting advice.

He was sure he could do it. He could be a good father, he decided. Now he couldn't wait to meet his son, and he hoped his son would share a birthday with his namesake. He felt like it would create a small connection between grandson and grandfather.

It was just before midnight on Harry's father's birthday that James Sirius was born.


	3. Quidditch

**_I want each of them to be at least 1K or 2K words long._**

* * *

Dee loved when she got to spend days at Hogwarts. She had never felt any disappointment or sadness over being unable to attend due to her Squib status, and she had never been treated any different than the rest of the kids her age who did get to go.

Whenever she had days off from her Muggle school, she could go with her Dad to Hogwarts if they had classes that day, or if it was a Quidditch game. She loved when her Dad took her to Hogsmeade to see everyone.

She knew all of the teachers well and even helped them set up for lessons if she could. Dee loved spending time with the teachers that had taught her parents, especially Professor Sprout, who had taught her mother and been her Head of House. Even though Professor Sprout had retired when Dee was eight, she still wrote to Dee once a month.

Dee's favourite thing, though, was getting to visit common rooms and the feasts. Since she wasn't a student, she could generally get into the common room as long as she had the passwords and she could sit with whoever during the feasts.

She generally stuck near the many Potter and Weasley children, or her brother when he had attended. Teddy had shown her the Hufflepuff common room so many times and she had visited the Gryffindor one the most with Harry's kids.

Her Dad usually left her to do what she wanted, as long as she behaved and didn't cause trouble.

She was on her way to the Gryffindor common room, to see James before the Quidditch match, when she heard someone call for her.

"Miss Lupin!"

Dee turned to see Minerva McGonagall heading towards her. "Hi, Professor McGonagall, how are you?"

"Dear, I've told you a million times, it's Minerva." McGonagall said. "I was hoping to see you today before the match. Remus said you had gone to see some of the others. I'd like to show you something."

"Of course." Dee said, following McGonagall.

"Now that we have finally finished restoring the items from the Room of Requirement fire, we've been finding a lot if things that belonged to past students." McGonagall explained. "Some of the items are so old that their owners are long gone or we can't remember the owner. However, I found some items that led me to remember a very interesting story about a past student of mine."

"Is it Dad?" Dee asked. "From what I've heard, I can imagine you'd find a lot of things they left behind."

"No, actually. It was your mother."

"Really?" Dee asked, her heart racing.

"I can imagine you've heard about her school years from Charlie Weasley, especially when it comes to Quidditch." McGonagall said as they approached the stairway to her office. "She was an excellent beater, except when her temper got the best of her."

"I've heard some."

"Well, when she was in sixth year, there was a match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin that got very out of hand. I don't know what started it, but the two teams were quite vicious towards each other leading up to it. I've seen this happen a lot, it's unfortunately not uncommon for teams to be this competitive." McGonagall said, opening the door to her office and letting Dee inside. "Right before the match, while your mother and the team were changing into their uniforms, a few Slytherins summoned their uniforms and stole them. We had to cancel the game and didn't let Slytherin play in the next game, but we never did find the uniforms and had to have new ones made for the team. However, when we were sorting through old and discarded robes that students left behind, we found a whole pile of their Quidditch robes."

"So, the Slytherins hid them in the Room of Requirement?"

"It would appear so." McGonagall said, approaching a wooden trunk. "I was able to clean and restore one set that I thought you might like to have." She opened the trunk, pulling out some yellow robes. "These were your mother's robes."

Dee stared at them a minute before taking them, turning them around. On the back, in large black letters was the name _Tonks _and a big letter four.

"Wow..." Dee said quietly. "Thank you."

"I know it must be hard to only know her from these tiny stories that we share with you, but she was an extraordinary woman. You remind me of her. You have the same fierce attitude she had."

"What did she do after the Slytherins stole her robes?" Dee asked, looking at McGonagall. "I would have done something back... did she do something?"

McGonagall smiled fondly. "She did, actually. She morphed into one of the students and broke at least a dozen school rules to cost them points, but was never caught. The Head of House at the time insisted she had done it, because the student in question had said they hadn't, but she denied everything."

"So, how do you know she did it?"

"She confessed to Severus during an Order meeting. He was quite furious." McGonagall said, and Dee glanced at the portraits of the previous Headmasters. Severus Snape's was currently empty.

"Thank you, really." Dee said. "Has Dad seen these yet?"

"Yes, he found the story quite amusing." McGonagall said. "Now, we should get down to the pitch, I'm sure Mr Potter will be very relieved to see you've shown up."

Dee blushed a bit. "He doesn't know I'm coming today."

"Precisely why I imagine he will be very relieved."

They left the office, meeting up with Remus near the Great Hall. "Ah, so Minerva found you."

"I pride myself on my ability to find one specific person in this school." McGonagall said as they made their way out onto the grounds and towards the Quidditch pitch, joining the groups of students heading there from other areas of the school.

"Dee!" Someone yelled and Dee turned to see Lily Luna running towards them, Albus Severus in tow. Dee threw her arms around the two younger Potter kids.

"I didn't know you were coming today." Albus said. "James was moping around when Dad said he wasn't sure if you'd come by."

"We weren't supposed to say anything, Al!" Lily cried. "Come on, Dee, we can sit with Rose. Unless you want to sit with your Dad?"

"Go ahead, Dee." Remus said. "I'll be with the teachers. Do you want me to take those robes?"

Dee looked down at the folded up robes. "Uh, sure, yeah, I don't want them to get dirty by accident." She said, handing them over.

"We'll find somewhere nice to keep them when we get home." Remus said. "I'll see you after the game."

Dee followed Lily and Albus to the stands and up to where Rose Weasley and Morgan Finnigan were sitting. They exchanged greetings and hugs before settling in to the seats.

As the teams walked out onto the pitch, Dee realised that she truly loved Hogwarts and felt extremely grateful that she was never isolated for her Squib status.

Somehow, James spotted her in the stands and he grinned, pointing directly at her.

"That's my girlfriend!" He yelled to the boy flying beside him, who playfully shoved James.

"Head in the game, Potter!"


	4. Winter Nights

**_I want each of them to be at least 1K or 2K words long._**

* * *

James felt like he was going to lose his mind.

He couldn't focus. Looking through pamphlet after pamphlet and researching jobs was just some mind numbing task.

He had no idea what he wanted to do after he completed Hogwarts. Why did he have to choose when he was fifteen?

What if he changed his mind?

He knew both of his parents ended up in the careers they wanted, even if his Mum had switched to reporting on Quidditch instead of playing after she was injured when James was three. They had followed their goals. Despite the war, they had still followed their chosen paths.

James didn't even have a war to worry about. He wasn't facing danger every day, losing friends and family, unsure of if he would be alive next year. And yet... he couldn't decide what he wanted to do with his life.

One thing that he always went back to was that he wasn't sure he wanted to start with a proper career right after school.

Why couldn't he just experiment a little? Travel a bit, working as he went. Maybe he'd stay in Hogsmeade a month, then Diagon Alley a week and continue on to as many wizarding towns as he could.

Or, he could do what Dee was doing and go to a Muggle university. Granted, she didn't have a choice between magical and otherwise, but surely there was a Muggle career that James could enjoy.

It was nearing midnight and James wondered if Dee was still awake, or if her Dad and brother were.

The Potters lived three doors down from the Lupins, so it was easy to sneak out of the house and visit each other. He knew she would listen to his ramblings.

James stood, gathering up the pamphlets and opening his door. His Dad was working the night shift, and he knew his Mum had gone to bed a while ago. It was his siblings who may still be awake, but he didn't hear any movement.

He quietly hurried downstairs and grabbed his jacket and shoved his feet into his shoes. He usually snuck out through the back door, through their yard to the back alley and around to the Lupins' yard. It was snowing heavily so he knew his tracks would be covered.

The lights in the Lupin house were all off except for one room, Dee's room. He balled up some snow, tossing it at her window. The curtains moved a bit and a few moments later, the back door opened.

"You scared me, James!" Dee said as she rushed him inside. "I told you to be careful, the full moon is two days away and it's been a rough week..."

James took off his shoes, carrying them with him through the house.

They stayed silent in the hallways, maintaining their silence until she shut her bedroom door quietly behind them. "Honestly, Teddy's not even a werewolf and he still has to deal with almost everything Dad does." Dee said. "I'm seriously worried one of them heard you come in."

"Teddy wouldn't say anything."

"Out of the two of them, it's not Teddy I worry about." Dee said. "Why are you up so late?"

"I was looking at the career pamphlets." James said, pulling them out of his jacket. "I asked for them before break, I still haven't decided."

"James, you're a fourth year. I thought this was fifth year stuff?"

"Well, yeah, but I wanted to be early." James said sheepishly and Dee snorted. "I mean, you already chose."

"I didn't really choose yet, medical school was just an idea." Dee said as James took of his jacket, and they settled on the bed. "Teddy said Healer training has been interesting and he's always telling me stuff about it, I find it really cool."

"I couldn't be a Healer. The things they must see and how it must feel when they lose a patient for some small error..."

"Like Mum." Dee said. "I don't know how they can handle it..."

James nodded slowly. Dee had recently found out everything about her mother's death, and it had been hard for her. James wished he hadn't been at Hogwarts when she found out. Dee had known about the man who cursed her mother but hadn't ever learned exactly how her mother had died. James had received a tear stained letter after Dee found out, in which Dee cursed out the Healers for not noticing that her Mum's blood had been altered by the curse, leading to an almost instantaneous hemorrhage directly after the c section that saved Dee's life.

"It's like Aurors. The things Dad has seen, I've heard him telling Mum about a lot of the horrible things he sees."

"Yeah, but Harry's gone through a war too, he's seen that stuff a lot. It's different for us, we haven't seen these terrible things on a daily basis." Dee said. "What have you been looking at?" She asked, shuffling through the pamphlets.

"I don't know." James said. "I just don't know what I want to do."

"Why decide now?"

"Well, fifth year is generally when people do, and you've already mentioned some universities."

"I haven't even thought of applying yet. There's no rush, I may even take a year off of school." Dee said.

"I was thinking of doing that, maybe doing some odd jobs in different towns I could visit."

"Then, why don't you?"

James thought for a minute. "I don't know, I just kind of always thought it was important to settle down with a job right away."

Dee shrugged. "I kind of like the idea of just wasting a year first."

"So do I... maybe it's something we can do together, if you're not tired of me by then."

"Maybe." She said with a smile.

They ended up talking for a few hours more and just like so many times before, James dozed off with her. Usually he woke up before anyone else did and could sneak back to his own room, but this morning, he woke up as someone knocked on Dee's door.

"Dee, breakfast is ready." Remus called. "James, you can eat with us too instead of climbing out of the window again."


End file.
